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(SEAPA/IFEX) - 7 July 2011 - Twelve media organisations fighting for freedom of expression and freedom of the press all around the world cosigned, today, a joint statement calling on the government to put a stop to its harassment and prosecution of journalists and calling for the release of jailed video journalists.

Free the Democratic Voice of Burma's video journalists

Despite pledges by Burma's new government that it has begun the transition to civilian rule, 17 video journalists (VJs) for the Oslo-based exiled media organisation, the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), remain imprisoned. They are among nearly 2,100 political prisoners in Burma, a testament to the lingering hold of dictatorial rule on the country.

The journalists' work has included the documenting of scorched-earth tactics against ethnic minorities, of the killing of monks by Burmese troops, and of the ineptitude of the regime following cyclone Nargis in 2008.

DVB VJs have become a source of humiliation for the Burmese government, which resides over one of the world's most restrictive media environments. Rather than being allowed to continue a service deemed an invaluable component of democratic societies around the world, journalists are considered criminals who warrant decades-long sentences.

We call on the Burmese government to put a stop to its harassment and prosecution of journalists, who are forced to operate under strict control and surveillance. There is evidence that despite pledges to the contrary, freedom of the press and freedom of expression continue to deteriorate in Burma, with regulations over access to the internet tightened and journalists now forced to self-censor with greater intensity.

Reports from families of a number of the jailed VJs also suggest that torture techniques have been used during the interrogation phase to extract information about DVB's operation and its network of undercover reporters, which number close to 80. It was under torture that 21-year-old VJ Sithu Zeya was forced to reveal that his father, Maung Maung Zeya, was also a member of DVB staff. They are now serving eight and 13-year sentences respectively.

International bodies such as the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union must apply pressure on the Burmese government to release all jailed journalists.

It is time for the Burmese government to acknowledge the important function of independent journalism and the central role these journalists play in fostering public discourses and the exchange of information in a free and democratic society.

Restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and assembly persist, amid the government's failure to contend with the range of rights-abusing laws that have been long used to criminalize free speech and prosecute dissidents.As part of the military's "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine State, where thousands of Rohingya Muslims face rampant and systemic human rights violations, the authorities denied independent journalists access to the region since early October.

An officer of the Myanmar army recently filed a criminal complaint against two journalists for allegedly sowing disunity among the military. Even though mediation by the Press Council caused the military to withdraw the case, this incident demonstrates how the military continues to throw its weight to get back at what it perceives as negative publicity.

The Broadcasting Law, approved in August, enabled private companies to enter the broadcast market for the first time. However, it maintains presidential control over the broadcasting sector, and the Broadcasting Council it established is susceptible to political interference.

The report surveys the rocky landscape for media and public discourse since the ruling military junta lifted the curtain on the southeast Asian nation in 2012 after five decades of isolation from the modern world.

As the election looms for later this year, incidents in 2014 and in early 2015 involving the press raises serious questions on the genuineness of media freedom in Burma. The situation is alarming as the state seems to have heaped all the faults and fines on the media in the past year, which has seen a media worker being killed in October on the pretext of national security. International assistance has poured into the country to develop the media aimed at lifting and sustaining the state of media freedom. However, a viable press freedom environment seems unlikely to materialise in Burma before the end of this administration.

There is some skepticism about how much influence Burma's youth movement can assert in terms of political change. Still, activists have benefited from greater access to the Internet, which has brought a new side to the online community after decades of heavy censorship

Burma is at a crossroads. The period of transition since 2010 has opened up the space for freedom of expression to an extent unpredicted by even the most optimistic in the country. Yet this space is highly contingent on a number of volatile factors.

The media landscape in Burma is more open than ever, as President Thein Sein releases imprisoned journalists and abolishes the former censorship regime. But many threats and obstacles to truly unfettered reporting remain, including restrictive laws held over from the previous military regime. The wider government’s commitment to a more open reporting environment is in doubt.

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